Thursday, March 21

"Freedom fighters"

I wrote this short piece for WEast Magazine in the light of recent events back home. I thought I share it here on my blog as well.

A story of us…

Who are we? Where do we
come from? What do we do? The answers to these questions are fairly
simple. In some countries these questions would not even be asked. But
in the country where I come from, these are very important questions.
Sometimes your background and your status are more important than who
you truly are in this society. Oh yes, don’t be surprised. It is simply a
fact of life in a small country known to the rest of the world as
Azerbaijan. We are the young, educated, intelligent, active, engaged
citizens of Azerbaijan. We are the 20 something, 30 something, and 40
something citizens who still envisage Azerbaijan to be a better country
for its citizens. We all come from Azerbaijan, from the beautiful North,
from the colourful South, from the middle, from the top. Some of us saw
the collapse of the Soviet Union, some of us remember those days
through stories told by our parents. Some of us never saw the Union, and
were born after independence. We work, study, try to make our home a
place we are proud of. That is all… But then, that would be too simple
an explanation in an overly complicated world of politics, dirty games
and – what many often underestimate – selfish leaders.

Things are tough here. Being outspoken,
having an opinion, being an individual with a set of ideals and
knowledge is not something that one can be proud of. These things might
cost you a lot, above all- freedom. And this is not just about physical freedom but a freedom of mind.

Recently
one such free mind, known to many of us here and friends around the
world, was detained unlawfully. He was taken away by plain-clothed men
without explanation, right in front of his work place in bright day
light. Ruslan Asad didn’t do anything wrong. He rightly used his right
to think, to act, and to say what he thinks is right. But that is of no
value back home- unless your mind acts in a “certain” way. He was
released after a few hours, but there is a chance he will be called back
in for further questioning on his workplace- the National Democratic
Institute (the director of which allegedly asked Ruslan to resign after March 10th,
when Ruslan was detained during peaceful demonstrations against hazing
and abuse of conscripts in the Azerbaijani military service. This rally
as all the other “unsanctioned” rallies was dispersed by the local
police using tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons), and the
relationship between NDI and youth organizations. The interest in the
youth organizations is a result of a recent article published by
journalist Eynulla Fatullayev holding NDI responsible for investing
$2million in what Fatullayev calls a “Facebook Revolution”. Needless to stay, the allegation was dismissed by NDI.

Ruslan wasn’t the only young Azerbaijani detained that day. Rashad Hasanov, another activist and a member of one of the youth organizations- N!DA Citizens’ Movement,
was also detained. He remains in custody. According to his lawyer
Asabali Mustafayev, the young man is facing charges of possession of
illegal weapons. If found guilty Hasanov faces up to 8 years in prison.

Surely these arrests were politically
motivated. Prior to protests held on March 10, three other members of
N!DA were arrested. According to local police records, Molotov cocktails
and drugs were found in their apartments and they were accused of
plotting a revolution. A video of the three admitting their “crimes” was
aired later in the day though their lawyers and families say this was
all staged and the three were forced to confess.

And so, we are the people who are
harassed, arrested and detained, simply because someone can do this to
us. But despite everything, we are hopeful, I am hopeful that things
will change in our homeland. Because we deserve change. I deserve
change. Ruslan deserves change. Rashad deserves change. Azerbaijani
citizens deserve a better place to think, to write, to share and to
live. And one day, our leaders will understand the importance of this
necessary change. Because we cannot afford any more generations
lamenting the decay in rights, freedoms and morals…

1 comment:

Welcome to Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines. I started this blog in 2008.

Flying Carpets is about Azerbaijan (where I am originally from) and a little bit about Turkey (where I live). Flying Carpets its mostly politics, and rights issues that I deeply care about and want to see change some day.

I hope it offers at least a tiny bit of glimpse into a country that has so much potential and yet wasting it all thanks to its leaders.